1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to the field of paper cutting apparatus and methods and more particularly, to the field of paper cutting apparatus and methods for newsprint wrappers.
2. Discussion Of The Background
Newsprint for newspapers is commonly delivered in large rolls having a protective, outer sheet or wrapper of heavy paper or cardboard. The rolls are roughly 40-50 inches in diameter and 28-72 inches in width and weigh up to about a ton each. Currently, the most common practice to remove the wrapper is to have an operator manually cut off its end caps with a knife as the newsprint roll is rotated on two smaller conveyor rollers. Once the end caps are removed, the operator next makes a horizontal cut across the wrapper and as the roll continues to be rotated, he manually gathers up the wrapper in his arms to expose the underlying newsprint. Thereafter, the removed wrapper which is in a loose roll or gathering is simply tossed aside and the exposed newsprint is fed into the printers.
Efforts have been made to more quickly and efficiently handle the removal and disposal of the wrapper after it is horizontally cut. To date, these efforts have for the most part simply involved feeding one of the loose ends of the cut wrapper into an overhead conveyor of belt or pinch rollers for quick removal to a remote location. However, even with this arrangement, the removed wrapper still needs to be cut into smaller pieces or segments which can subsequently be bailed and shredded for recycling.
With the above in mind, the new cutting apparatus and method of the present invention were developed. With them, the removed wrapper as well as the end caps can be easily and quickly cut into small pieces or segments that can be easily bailed and shipped for subsequent shredding and recycling.